Spanish Telco Testing Blockchain Data
The telecom multinational based in Spain named Telefonica has announced its interest on the blockchain technology. According to the official report, the company is looking to trial a blockchain-powered platform that is designed to enable users sell their very own personal information.
Selling Private Information
The news was revealed by Wibson, which is known for offering a decentralized data marketplace. The latter, on the other hand, is all about allowing people to sell private information – the type that has been verified and validated – for a profit. Meanwhile, Telefonica wants to trial the platform in order to validate its authenticity, including its consumer data.
As far as the trial is concerned, it is expected to initially validate users of the Spanish telcos’ subsidiary called Movistar in the South American country of Uruguay. Basically, the telco giant is going to serve as a notary, supporting the idea of verifying Movistar subscriber status. This is said to cover those consumers looking to sell data via the Wibson marketplace, as per the press release.
The notary feature, in particular, makes sure that data in the aforementioned marketplace is not only recent and authentic, but is also 100 percent high quality. According to Mat Travizano, the co-founder and CEO of Wibson, only through these qualities could they ensure the success of the platform.
Wibson’s Data Marketplace
It is worth noting that this is not the first time Telefonica made a huge move involving Wibson. That is because last year, the former also took a stake in the latter via its very own investment arm called Wayra. The move was believed to have been in partnership with some capital firms like Kinetic Capital and DGG Capital.
As for Wibson, it launched its own data marketplace sometime in October last year. And through it, users located in Argentina, Spain, and even the United States were able to utilize the company’s mobile app and a custom token known as WIB in order to make money from their data. As soon as a data transaction is completed and deep-rooted through a smart contract on the above-mentioned platform, individuals would automatically receive payment in a wallet on the app.
Travizano, during that time, said both the platform and the token are major players, as they help consumers have an easy way to profit from their respective personal data. And it is an interesting activity to join, especially since people tend to create data on a daily basis. But despite the selling of their information, individuals still have full rights of ownership.